spirits up so i presume they their spirits up so i presume they have been working on that with them, keeping them happy on explaining, as far as they can, what is going to happen, and keeping their morale up. but, apart from that, as to whether any attempt has been made to get them in the water and i don't know. more will come out in due course as to the techniques that were actually used on the rescue. i think we'll have to wait and see. bill, some of these passageways inside the caves are extraordinarily narrow. i'm just wondering how the divers and the boys are going to get through them. again, there will be different techniques for different obstacles. asi techniques for different obstacles. as i understand that there will be areas in there, where, clearly, they areas in there, where, clearly, they are only going to be able to pass one in front of the other one behind the other and it may be that, if the

boys have been packaged so that, if you like, they arejust like boys have been packaged so that, if you like, they are just like almost like a torpedo, if you like, then hopefully they could be passed through from one diver on one side to another dive on the other, receiving them and proceed on the way that way. but i am guessing, because i don't know in detail what the passageways were, and what the actual problems were, so i couldn't say. bill whitehouse from the british cave rescue council, thank you for your insights. let's bring you those live pictures again from the scene. it looks like there is food assistance if i am not mistaken there. the rescue operation continues well into the night. we

have been hearing reports that two of the boys have been brought out safely and we are awaiting more news on what has happened. that took around nine hours which is not as long as we were told it would take. we were expecting that they would be around at two o'clock and they have been brought out slightly earlier, but a long way to go still. let's speak to andy evers, the former head of the british caving association. what more have you been hearing about this rescue operation? to be honest, i gave a number of interviews this morning and i have been doing family things for a couple of hours. i have been married very happily for 50 years and i am trying to kid like that! i have had a number of phone calls from various people and i know as much as anybody else as to what is going on and i am

absolutely delighted. i have to say am not surprised. i would have predicted that exactly this might have happened. but i like to be optimistic but not too optimistic. i think we will see more of these boys coming out like this in the next few days. you said you are not surprised. are you surprised by the speed at which they have been brought out? we were expecting the process to take longer. no, not really. actually coming through the flooded sections will not take all that long, it will not take lots of hours. getting in there and getting setup and getting ready will take the time. the actual passage from where these kids are trapped to work the diving base is will not take that long. and it clearly has not

done. and it has been successful. we have got two of them out successfully. fingers crossed for the other 11. everything you said was absolutely spot on, but the important thing is to get these kids co mforta ble important thing is to get these kids comfortable with their heads underwater, breathing underwater, and that is a fantastic thing they have had to do. they do not need to swim and they do not need to be able to see in the water. they will be guided by very experienced cave divers. they just have guided by very experienced cave divers. theyjust have to keep their cool underwater and that is clearly what these two have done. i suspect the other boys will be capable of doing the same thing. they show every signs of being really together, young boys and being able together, young boys and being able to not panic in this panic situation. that is what has been

extraordinary. every picture we have seen of these young boys they seem to be in good spirits. what strikes me is you are saying they do not need to know how to swim to actually know how to dive. that fascinates me. this is cave diving. you are not ina big me. this is cave diving. you are not in a big expanse of water. a lot of the cave divers who are in their spend their lives pulling along the bottom or the side or the roof or sometimes very small cave passages. they put a line through these passengers and they literally pull themselves through on the line. one of the best cave divers in the world cannot actually swim on the surface. for diving it is not essential. keeping your cool is essential and these kids kept their cool for nine daysin these kids kept their cool for nine days in complete darkness, so they are capable of keeping their cool. they are becoming a credit to

thailand at the moment. they are resilient indeed. these are live pictures from the scene of the hospital we believe the ambulance has taken the young boys two, the young boys who were brought out earlier, two we believe. they have been taken to that hospital in those pictures. let's carry on speaking to andy. i am fascinated by this issue of being comfortable in the water, but how can you feel comfortable in zero visibility water? experience and the cave divers in there, some of them have got a0 years plus experience and that is how they are co mforta ble experience and that is how they are comfortable in that situation. these boys have got to be convinced by the very experienced cave divers who are with them that it is a pretty safe thing. but obviously all things are relative of course. keeping their

cool relative of course. keeping their cool, that is the really important thing. the boys have got things going for them. they are small, so getting through the small passages will be easierfor them getting through the small passages will be easier for them then it would be for people who were bigger. they are young and fit and they have got themselves together. they are good models for doing this. they have got a lot going for them. i have got a lot going for them. i have to say that coming home has got a whole new meaning to me after last night both with the football and with what is going on in thailand. coming home is wonderful and i think these boys are. i can hear the delights in your voice. adam evers, thank you for your time. let's bring you those pictures that we are seeing from the live scene and it is the hospital where we believe the two young boys have been taken to after being rescued from the cave.

the first two boys who have been rescued from the cave. they have been trapped there for around two weeks along with other members of the football team and their coach. we saw an ambulance coming away from the cave and another one went in towards the mouth of the cave and we will wait and see what more details emerge. jeff crossley is a cave diving instructor and he was one of the divers who rescued les hewitt from a yorkshire cave in 1992. he is live from our newsroom in manchester here in the uk. percival, your reaction to how events have unfolded over the past few hours. it is absolutely fantastic that we have got two boys out. cautiously optimistic is what i would say with the news that they have been rescued. let's hope everybody else comes out in the same way. you are an expert diver and you have rescued

individuals from critical situations. what must be going through those divers' mind? that is a good point, spare a thought for the divers. it is a very ominous task to rescue somebody from inside a small passage. i would echo everything that andrew has just said to be honest. they will be elated that they have got two of the boys out, but they will know that the job is farfrom done. out, but they will know that the job is far from done. it is like a tag tea m is far from done. it is like a tag team method where a group goes in and a group comes out on a rescue operation of this scale? that is the way we did it on the small operation i was involved in. there werejust two people. but it was a great team effort, and it is a team effort to get everybody out, and that includes the rescuers as well. when you come across the individual you are trying to rescue, what is your first

instinct? what do you say to these individuals to calm the situation down? you have got to be positive at all times. you have not got to give off any negative vibes. you have got to talk them around into believing that it to talk them around into believing thatitis to talk them around into believing that it is possible that they can do what you are asking them to do. in situations like i was involved in they have little choice. they knew that their destiny was in their own hands, that is what they actually said, and that is what made them go ahead and do the dive because they knew they had no choice. as i understand, i think with these boys they have clearly shown such character, having been in that cave for so long, that they might see it as an adventure and a challenge. hopefully they will all see it that way and do their very best to get out. adventure is one way of putting

it. you have said that it is about having their destiny in their own hands. when these divers came across these young boys they were fully aware that they had to teach these young boys how to dive and swim. how do you go about that in such a short space of time? they have only had a matter of days to be taught how to dive. they will not be having a very full scuba—diving dive. they will not be having a very full scu ba—diving chorus. dive. they will not be having a very full scuba—diving chorus. they will be taught the basics of how to breathe through a mask and how to swim along a guideline. but, as i say, with other people when their destiny is in their own hands, when i say that, they knew they had to dive. with the boys, they will be accompanied by divers who will help them, so they have to dive, but the divers with them either very best there are and they will help them

get out. i believe there is a guiding rope here. is this standard practice? yes, in cave diving there are certain golden rules and one of them is to lay a guideline throughout any flooded passage. it is very similar to a string in the maze. you need a guideline to find your way out. often in underwater passages and caves the visibility can be quite bad, if not on the way m, can be quite bad, if not on the way in, but on the way out when used up silt and mud, in, but on the way out when used up siltand mud, so in, but on the way out when used up silt and mud, so you need a guideline to find your way out. fascinating. thank you for your insights. let's bring you those extraordinary pictures. night has fallen there. that is the hospital we believe the two young boys have been taken to and that has now been confirmed. those two young boys have been taken there and have been rescued from the cave. we do not know the condition of the boys. we

have just seen the ambulance is going towards the hospital and we shall await more details from medical officials as and when we get them. dan johnson has medical officials as and when we get them. danjohnson has the latest from the caves. let's bring you those pictures again from the scene, that hospital where we believe the young boys have been taken. let's recap on what has happened so far. the rescue mission has begun. it started at about ten o'clock local time, that is about 3am in the morning in the uk. they were trapped by those monsoon floods in a cave in northern thailand. they had been there for around two weeks. the operation has been a race against time and more rain is predicted for coming days and that is why the rescue operation was called. we have news that two young boys have been rescued so far. let's bring you the

latest from dan johnson. in just rescued so far. let's bring you the latest from danjohnson. in just the last few minutes we have seen two ambulances drive up the road away from the cave with their lights flashing, they headed off in that direction for the nearest hospital. we believe those ambulances were carrying the first two boys to be released. there are 13 boys and their coach to be released, so that isa their coach to be released, so that is a positive start but there is still more work to do. everyone here understands how complicated this rescue operation is and it will involve risk and it will take more time. but if they have proven that this escape method works, that is a positive development. they started at 10am this morning, an international diving team from around the world. they have spent the last few days teaching those boys to swim and use the scuba—diving

equipment so they could swim out through the flooded parts of the cave. some of the passages are narrow, twisted and deep underwater and it is something experienced cave divers have difficulty with. but the fa ct divers have difficulty with. but the fact it looks like that the first two boys have now been rescued and are on their way to hospital means there is positivity, but that is still so much more to do. you witnessed those young men coming out of the caves? no, not myself because the media were asked to move back earlier this morning. the media has spent the last two weeks being close to the cave mouth and we were able to see the operation, but first thing this morning when it was announced the rescue attempts were going to begin in earnest the media we re going to begin in earnest the media were pushed back to the end of the road and that is where we are now, about half a mile from the cave itself. we were not able to see any one individual emerging, only that vehicles coming and going. the activity increased in the last hour

or so. ministers arrived to oversee the operation. in the last couple of minutes two ambulances drove off down the road and headed off to the hospital. we know preparations are being made their to treat them. they had two weeks trapped underground and they have spent the last few days building up their strength and learning the techniques they need to escape. but it will take them some time to recover from this, but the rescue operation still has to go on. evenif rescue operation still has to go on. even if those two are on their way to hospital, there are 11 more people who have to make their way out as well. we are waiting for independent confirmation. you mentioned time ministers have arrived at the scene. have people been satisfied with the response from central government?” been satisfied with the response from central government? i do not know, we have not got into the politics of who has been running this operation and in what form.

there have been loads of people involved, it has been an incredibly busy scene over the last two weeks. international help has come in from right across the world, cave diving experts have been brought here from the furthest parts of the world to give their expertise. thailand admitted that it did not have this experience and it opened it up to international help, but there has been assistance from the thai military and they have had to work to improve the communication, the power connections, to build new roads so they could bring in specialist equipment because the infrastructure here is poor, it is a remote area, and it is very mountainous. that is why digging down was not an option because these are steep cliffs and they are covered in thick vegetation. the last couple of weeks were first about finding the boys, then working out the most realistic way of rescuing them and today they have

really decided on a strategy and gone for it. this was d—day the man in charge of the operation said. that underlines how bearing the operation is. everyone acknowledges there was a risk whatever option they took. they have got the window and they have progressed far enough in teaching the boys to swim and use the scu ba—diving in teaching the boys to swim and use the scuba—diving equipment and to be co mforta ble the scuba—diving equipment and to be comfortable in that unfamiliar environment. they did not want to wait too long because any more rain could, with the threat of rising water levels, mean that the boys we re water levels, mean that the boys were at even more risk. they took the opportunity today and it is starting to pay off. another ambulance is going in there and that is presumably to collect someone else. it is heading towards the cave. the others turned out and away towards the main road. there are also helicopters here on standby ready to fly the boys to hospital if

their care is really urgent. their families are waiting in the hospital in the main town and it is about an hour away from here and they are waiting to be reunited with their boys as soon as possible. but there will still be a lot more time taken here. it takes five hours even for a professional diver to make that mile and a half journey professional diver to make that mile and a halfjourney out of the cave. it looks like the first boys managed to get out in about nine hours, quicker than the officials were estimating. but to take the rest of the group out will take lots more time, possibly into tomorrow. this is an extraordinary story. how have they decided which children to bring out first? we understand doctors we re out first? we understand doctors were in the cave yesterday, doctors who have diving capability went to examine them and look at their physical condition and assess their mental strength as well. they decided on a priority list in which the boys should be brought out, so

starting with the weakest, with the ones in most need. they have formed into small groups, maybe two or three at a time to be guided out by the expert divers. that seems to be the expert divers. that seems to be the way they are planning to do this. we heard yesterday the boys received letters from their families and letters were brought out that they had written and that was a positive contact and it seemed to be a morale boost for them and their families outside and for everyone who has been watching this rescue operation so closely. it is something that has captivated the world. there has been a rising tide of optimism during the last week since they were discovered alive. that surprised everyone after they we re that surprised everyone after they were cut off in darkness for ten days without food. hopes fell on friday when we heard and navy diver lost his life. that underlined how tricky this would be, but everyone

was determined to carry on and find a successful solution to this rescue and it looks like they have started to find real success and they are managing to get the boys free. but they will need time to recover from this ordeal and their is still active rescue work to go on to bring out the rest of the group and that will be the main priority, to get eve ryo ne will be the main priority, to get everyone out as quickly as possible. earlier i spoke to the former head of the british government caving association. i am delighted and i have to say not surprised. i would have to say not surprised. i would have predicted that exactly this might have happened. i like to be optimistic but not too optimistic. i think we will see more of these boys coming out like this in the next few days. you said you are not surprised. are you surprised by the speed at which they have been

brought out. we were expecting the process to take longer. no, not really. actually coming through the flooded sections will not take all that long, it will not take lots of hours. getting in there and getting setup and getting ready will take the time. the actual passage from where these kids are trapped to work the diving base is will not take that long. and it clearly has not done. and it has been successful. we have got two of them out successfully. it is fingers crossed for the other 11. everything that bill said was absolutely spot on. the important thing is to get these kids comfortable with their head underwater, breathing underwater. that is the fantastic thing they

have had to do. they do not need to swim, they do not need to be able to see underwater. they will be absolutely guided by very experienced cave divers. theyjust have to keep their cool underwater and that is clearly what these two have done. i suspect the other boys will be capable of doing the same thing. they showed every sign of being really together, young guys and being able to not panic in this panic situation. that is what has been extraordinary, every picture we have seen of these young boys they seem to be in good spirits. what strikes me is that you are saying they do not need to know how to swim to know how to dive. that fascinates me. this is cave diving. you are not ina big me. this is cave diving. you are not in a big expanse of water. a lot of these cave divers in their spend their lives pulling along the bottom

or along the side or the roof of sometimes very small cave passages. they put a line through these passages and they literally pull themselves through on the line. one of the best cave divers in the world cannot actually swim on the surface. diving is not essential, keeping your cool is what is essential. these kids kept their cool for nine daysin these kids kept their cool for nine days in complete darkness, so they are capable of keeping their cool and they are becoming accredited tile and i think at the moment. let's bring you some live pictures from where we believe the children have been taken to, in hospital. i believe it is about an hour's drive from the area, according to our correspondent dan johnson on from the area, according to our correspondent danjohnson on the ground. night has fallen and the boys have been taken to that hospital, i believe, for treatment. we do not know the condition of the

boys as yet. we believe the families are waiting there and the doctors did assess the boys inside the cave prior to them being evacuated. we believe the weakest was brought out first as well. the mission began at ten o'clock on sunday, that is about three o'clock gmt. we were expecting it to take much longer, we were told the boys could be in there for four months, but the authorities have decided to bring them out sooner. we are aware that two ambulances were seen at the area a couple of hours ago around 1900. those are pictures from the scene, night has fallen, but the rescue operation does continue. the boys were trapped by monsoon floods in a cave in northern thailand for two weeks, a story that we have been following closely. stay

with us here on bbc world news. time to take a look at the weather for the rest of the day. the temperatures have broken 30, plenty of sunshine around. the clearer skies have been across the south—west of britain today. but more cloud in scotland and northern ireland and northern england. but there are still some very warm sunny spells to be had even here. temperatures well into the 20s and in the low 30s in other parts of england and wales. cloud increasing across eastern pies overnight, there could be a bit of drizzle. a little bit cooler overnight in scotland and

northern ireland compared to last night. just as warm in england and wales. it is another difficult night for sleeping after the heat of the day. a change on monday and tuesday, this is bringing slightly cooler air with a bit more cloud around for a time. not as much sunshine around, but most places looking drive. there is still some warmth to be had on monday, and particularly in south wales, the west midlands and into southern england were the hot spots will still be near 30 celsius. the cooler coast is in the north east of the uk and in north east england, 5-10d the uk and in north east england, 5—10d cooler compared to today. a bit more cloud round at wimbledon, there will be very warm, sunny spells, make no mistake about that. a very warm and hot day once again at wimbledon with just a light

breeze. near 30 once again. on tuesdayit breeze. near 30 once again. on tuesday it will be a bit cooler because the weather front has completed its journey southwards and it brings in a cooler, northerly flow across the uk, particularly on the north sea coasts. but it is only cooler for a the north sea coasts. but it is only coolerfor a time. warmth the north sea coasts. but it is only cooler for a time. warmth will build backin cooler for a time. warmth will build back in from the south as we go to the later stages of the week. very warm and hot in southern parts once again and it is high pressure in control throughout the week, so there is a brief change in the feel of the weather, but with high pressure around it is staying dry. lots of people would like to see rain and there is not much if any of that in the forecast this week. this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. our headlines: officials in thailand say at least four boys have been saved from a

flooded cave system as ambulances are seen leaving the site. the boys and their football coach have been trapped in the complex cave system for almost a fortnight and were found by rescue divers earlier this week. experts say divers have faced difficult conditions. it has taken a lot of planning and trying different techniques and finding the best way of going about things. before it could be undertaken.